I am a creature of habit. I get up early every morning, spend time with my Heavenly Father in prayer and reading His Word. I use a structured approach to my prayer life, praying for a different group of people on the same day each week. I read through the Bible systematically instead of hopping around. I do most of my heavy lifting in terms of thinking from 7:00 until about 2:00, and then a switch seems to flip in my head, and after 2:00 I focus on less mentally demanding tasks. I blog on leadership weekly, try to post something worthwhile (hopefully) on Facebook and Twitter 6 days a week every week without fail (unless I’m on vacation).

I visit Planet Fitness four times per week. I even rotate the socks in my sock drawer so they won’t wear out as fast. Laura laughs at me for that one, but it makes perfect sense to me.

Routine can be boring to the untrained eye. It’s not flashy. Not sexy. Probably not many leadership books out there that focus on the power of routine. But here’s the truth: Great leaders have developed great routines. The most successful people in the world have tapped into the power of routine.

Pablo Casals, the world’s foremost cellist was once asked why he continued to practice four-to-five hours per day. Casals answered: “Because I think I am making progress.” Casals tapped into the power of routine.

Michael Phelps when training for the Olympics, trained six days a week, 5-6 hours each day. His was an intense routine, but it was a routine nonetheless.

The truth is we all have routines… some routines are healthy… others, not so much. The good news is we can get rid of those routines that keep us from reaching our potential, and learn new ones that set us up for success. Michael Hyatt has written an outstanding blog on how to break bad habits

Here are 3 amazing outcomes of great routines:

Great routines bring vision into reality

A dream without a strategic routine is a hallucination. Converge Coaching’s dream is to equip 25,000 leaders by 2025. 25,000 is a big number. How are we ever going to get there? Not by sprinting. Not by huge bursts of energy followed by days of laying on the couch trying to recover. I think we’ll get there by steadily working on the right things every day. By picking up the phone, scheduling lunches and coffees, by writing every day, developing new ways to deliver great content… day after day after day. Most leaders have big dreams. It’s amazing how much progress you can make toward a larger-than-life dream when you tap into the power of routine.

Great routines help us eat the elephant in bite-size chunks

I’ve written two books. After each one, I vowed I would never write another, because of the enormous amount of time and energy required. It’s such a huge undertaking… how did I do it while working full time in the corporate world and building Converge Coaching? By writing a page or two every day. Many leaders have legitimately great dreams, but never get started because it seems overwhelming. Routine can help. Start small. Work on your dream every day (except your day off) for at least one hour. Over time, you’ll make significant progress.

Great routines keep us healthy

Routine helps us moderate our pace. It reminds us God didn’t design us to run 100mph with our hair on fire every day. Rather, He’s created us to be long distance runners. We see the end results of people like Pablo Casals and Michael Phelps—and we think it must be due to other-worldly talent coupled with a frenetic pace. Of course talent plays a part. But I think their success is due to something far less exciting—their daily routines. The hours of practice every day. The disciplined approach to leveraging their God-given talent.

So leader… what routines in your life need to go away? Which ones need to stay? And what new routines do you need to add? Routine may seem boring, but the right ones will put feet on your dreams, and give you a legitimate shot at achieving them without burning out. If you want amazing results as a leader… tap into the power of routine.

I’m rooting and praying for you!